Self-cocking revolver.



No. 778,501. PATENTED DEG. 2'7, 1904. 0. F. MOSSBERG.

SELF COOKING REVOLVER.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN.14. 1903,

UNiTEn STATEs Patented December 27, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE,

OSCAR F. MOSSBERG, OF OHIOOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO J.STEVENS ARMS 5; TOOL COMPANY, OF CHIOOPEE FALLS, MAS- SACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION.

SELF-COCKING REVOLVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,501, dated December27, 1904.

Application filed. January 14, 1903. Serial No. 139,049.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, OSCAR F. MOSSBERG, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Ohicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden andState of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inSelf-(locking Revolvers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to revolvers, and especially to self-cockingrevolvers having an outside hammer, as distinguished from that typeknown as hammerless, the object of the invention being to provide meansfor looking the cylinder of the revolver not only at the moment offiring, which is common to all revolvers, but also to lock the cylinderagainst rotation at all times, except for the time required to effectthe partial rotation thereof to bring one of its chambers into line withthe barrelthat is to say, the cylinder is normally locked, and an emptychamber may thus be held fixedly in front of the hammer, if desired,without fear that the cylinder may be rotated when the revolver is notin use, whereby a loaded chamber might be unintentionally brought intoposition to be fired, this locking of the cylinder being thus effectedwhether the hammer is cocked by the thumb or by a pull on the trigger.

In the drawings forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a part of a revolver, partly in section, embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing parts as they appear whenthe hammer has been cooked by hand. Fig. 3 is atop plan view of thetrigger-yoke in which the trigger is hung, showing also in section thehand and the cocking-dog carried on the trigger.

Referring to the drawings, (0 indicates the frame of the revolver; 5,the trigger; c, the trigger-yoke pivoted in the frame at (Z, the triggerbeing pivoted in the yoke at e. The cylinder f is supported in therevolver in the usual manner and is rotated by the hand g, which,together with the cocking-dog it, is pivoted at e. Stop-notchesz' aremilled in the exterior surface of the cylinder in the usual manner toreceive the cylinder-locking devlce,

which is formed on the upper forward end of the trigger and whichconsists of an upwardly extending projection having two rounded bossesthereon, (lettered, respectively, j and K3) the rearmost one beinginclicated by in. Both of these bosses operate to lock the cylinder atdifferent times, the boss] when the revolver is not in use-thatis, whenthe parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1- and the boss 70 at themoment of firing or when the parts are in position to effect the firingof the revolver, as shown in Fig. 2, both bosses being for a momentmoved out of the path of rotation of the cylinder either bytheself-cocking-movement, as when the trigger is pulled, or by themovement of the parts when the hammer is cocked by hand. This movementof the parts to efiect the locking of the cylinder in differentpositions is effected as follows: The trigger-yoke c is hung on the pin(Z, which is located transversely in the frame of the revolver, and aspring m is applied to the trigger-yoke to press the rear free endthereof downward. Reference to the drawings, and more particularly toFig. 3, will show that the trigger-yoke c is milled outina verticalplane to receive the trigger between its side walls, the trigger beingpivotall y supported in said yoke by the pin 6 passing transverselythrough these walls, the hand g and the cocking-d 0g it being alsosupported on the same pin, the dog being mortised into the trigger andthe pivotal end of the hand being let into the wall of the trigger-yoke,all as shown in Fig. 3. At a point near the pin 6 two shoulders at areformed on the ends of the side walls of the yoke c, and a projection 0is formed on the cocking-lever to come to a bearing on these shoulderswhen the trigger approaches the limit of its rearward movement, wherebythe continued movement of the trigger will force the end of thecocking-clog out of its engagement with the hammer,and thereby permitthe latter to be thrown forward by its spring 29. A spring q, locatedbetween the hand and the projection 0 on the cocking-dog, holds theseparts, respectively, in contact with the ratchet on the cylinder and theforward edge of the hammer. At some point on that portion of the rearedge of the trigger which lies between the walls of the yoke 0 a spiralspring a is located in a cavity in the trigger, the outer end of whichbears on a pin .9, located transversely of the yoke, the trigger beingslotted where the pin passes through to permit it to play freely on thepin 6. The pin .9 therefore acts as an abutment for the spring r, whoseexpansive effect operates to throw the forward end of the triggerupward, whereby the boss 1' may be thrown into the path of rotation ofthe cylinder in position to engage one of the stop-notches 2", and thusstop it at the proper time.

The operation of the parts, in so far as they relate to the actuation ofthe trigger to lock the cylinder either when the arm is not in use or atthe moment of firing, differs somewhat, according as the hammer iscocked by the pull on the trigger or as the hammer is cocked by thethumb, and the operation of the parts during the self-cocking operationwill first be described.

It will be observed that when the boss 7' is in one of the notches i,the boss in is depressed far enough to clear the cylinder, as shown inFig. 1. 1f now the trigger be pulled, the first movement thereof will beto withdraw the boss from the notch in the cylinder, the triggerswinging on the pin a without imparting movement to the trigger-yoke.The limit of this independent movement of the trigger in its yoke isreached when its forward end comes against the pin (Z. During thisinitial movement the spring 9* is compressed. The contact of the forwardend of the trigger with the pin (Z provides a fulcrum for the trigger,whereby a continued pull thereon causes the yoke to swing on the pin (Z,whereby its free end is raised,this movement causing the hand to rotatethe cylinder and the cocking-dog h, by the engagement thereof with ashoulder on the hammer,to cock the latter, all of which movement takesplace against the resistance of the spring m. At the time of thismovement of the hand 1 and the dog 7L both of the bosses and Z1 havebeen swung down out of the path of movement of the cylinder; but by thetime the continued rearward movement of the trigger has raised the handfar enough to bring a chamber of the cylinder in line with the barrelthe boss is will have been raised by said trigger movement far enough toenter one of the notches 2', which at that time will be in position toreceive it, and thus lock the cylinder in firing position, said boss 7:;reaching the height of its movement at the moment the cocking-dog /Lbecomes disengaged from the hammer. It is thus seen that the boss k willbe positively held in engagement with the notch 2' at the time offiring. When the trigger is released after firing, the spring 17?. actsto throw the rear end of the yoke 0 downward and the trigger forward,and at the same time the spring 0" will swing the trigger on the pin 6,thus throwing the boss fthereon up into the notch t in the cylinder fromwhich the boss 7s has just previously been withdrawn by the downwardmovement of the triggeryoke.

The operation of the parts when the hammer is cocked by the thumb is asfollows: In the forward edge of the hammer is cut a deep notch t, theupper end of the cocking-dog it having formed thereon a hook a, which islocated in this notch 2. whenever the hammer is down. When the arm iscocked by the use of the trigger, it will be seen that the disengagementof the dog from the hammer will throw this hooked end to almost out ofthe notch 6, (see Fig. 2,) and even if the hammer in its fall shouldstrike the dog the latter would simply swing on its pivot to let thehammer pass, and to that end the upper edge of the hook at is rounded.On the frame a scar e is hung on a pin w, the sear being pressed againstthe lower edge of the hammer by a suitable spring a, the lower end ofthe sear lying in position to be struck by the rear edge of the trigger,as shown at 7 Fig. 2. Assuming the parts to be in the position shown inFig. 1, the hammer is drawn back by the thumb, the engagement thereofwith the hook it on the cocking-dog. swinging the trigger and thetrigger-yoke upward, the hand rotating the cylinder in the same way aswhen the trigger is pulled. It will be observed, however, that thismovement of the parts does not impart to the trigger any swinging movement on the pin a independently of the yoke, whereby the projection 1'may be disengaged from the stop notch t'. To effect this necessarymovement of the trigger to release the cylinder, there is mounted in theupper side thereof a plunger .2, which is spring-pressed upwardly, theupper end thereof when the parts are in position shown in Fig. 1 justclearing the frame, whereby said plunger is totallyinoperative, it beinglimited in its upward movement by a transverse pin 2 engag ing ashoulder thereon. It is therefore obvious that when the hammer is inposition to be cocked either by the thumb or by the action of thetrigger the spring 0* controls the trigger entirely in its relation tothe stopnotches in the cylinder, but as soon as the hammer is drawn backby the thumb the yoke c and the trigger swinging upwardly will bring theplunger .2 at once against the frame, and thereby depress the boss j,the trigger thus having the same swinging movement on the pin 6independently of the yoke c as when the trigger is pulled to cook thehammer. When the hammer has been raised far enough to cause thedisengagement of the cocking-dog therefrom, the sear a; will snap into anotch on the hammer, as shown in Fig. 2, holding the latter in cockedposition, and the limit of the backward swing of the hammer brings therear edge of the trigger into close proximity to the lower end of thesear, as at the point y, and also swings the trigger far enough to causethe projection 70 to engage a stop-notch in the cylinder, and a pull onthe trigger will operate the sear to release the hammer. While the partsare in the position shown in Fig. 2 it will be seen that the engagementof the extreme end of the hook it with the lower edge of the notch t inthe hammer prevents the trigger from being swung downwardly I andforwardly again by the spring m until it has been pulled far enough todisengage the sear and allow the hammer to fall.

From the foregoing description it is clear that by means of theinvention described herein the cylinder may be securely locked againstrotation when the arm is not in use and also securely locked at themoment of firing, the parts operating equally well and surely whetherthe arm be used as self-cocking or whether the hammer be cooked by thethumb of the user.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The combination in arevolver, of a cylinder having stop-notches therein, a hammer,

a trigger-yoke in which the trigger is supported, said yoke beingpivotally hung in the frame by one end, the trigger being hung in thefree end of the yoke; a cylinder-locking device connected with thetrigger adapted to engage a stop-notch in the cylinder, a spring tonormally hold said cylinder-locking device in engagement with a notch inthe cylinder, and means to efiect the disengagement of said device fromsaid notch when the hammer is raised by a pull on the trigger, or on thehammer.

2. The combination in a revolver, of a cylinder having stop-notchestherein, a hammer, a trigger, and a cylinder-locking device on thetrigger, a spring to hold said locking device in normal engagement withthe cylinder, a spring-supported plunger on the trigger normallyinoperative, the parts being arranged to efiect the disengagement of thelocking device from the cylinder at the beginning of the cockingmovement of the hammer, by the contact of said plunger with a suitableabutment.

OSCAR F. MOSSBERG.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, K. I. CLEMONS.

